Navaids in Aviation :: essays research papers

How would pilots ever get around so easily without the uphold of navigation help? Navigational aides have been around for virtually as long as aircraft have been flying in the skies in a higher place us. The first navigation schema was composted of just a high intensity-flashing beacon. These beacons were set on the shoot routes that were popularly flown in the mid 1920s. With more m more of these technologies that help us navigate the world will be even simpler than today. This paper will explain how some navigational aides work and how some of them came into existence.Flight Management SystemsFlight management systems argon one of the best navaids in commercial aviation. The flight management system (FMS) is do up of 4 systems in an aircraft, the FMC (flight management computer), the autopilot and flight director, the auto throttle, and the IRSs. Accorduroying to Boeing the FMS could be defined as, being capable of four dimensional area navigation (latitude, longitude, altitude, and time), while optimizing performance to achieve the to the highest degree economical flight possible. The flight management system can cook you gross weight of the aircraft, and the best speeds (i.e. holding, approach, climb, cruise, descent, etc) by taking inputs from the fuel kernel unit when it is given the zero fuel weight and the MACTOW (mean aerodynamic cord at takeoff weight). The position of the aircraft can also be fixed by referencing the IRS, along with GPS and the radio position updating. Global Positioning SystemsGPS is a navigational aid that is satellite based. It is made up of a interlocking of 24 satellites in orbit around the world. The first satellite was launched in 1978 and the last was put into orbit in 1994. Every 10 days another satellite is put into orbit because each satellite is made to last that amount of time. The system began as a military masking but in the 1980s the government decided to make it unattached to everyone, anywhere, a nytime. The system finds your position by measuring the time it takes to receive the charge back to the satellite. It then does that with other satellites to triangulate your position in resemblance to the earth. To calculate a position in 2D the system has to be locked on to at least three satellites, but for a 3D representation you need to be locked on to at least 4 satellites. Once the position is found the GPS can calculate much more info like speed, bearing, track, distance, etc The GPS system is very accurate Garmin (a leader in GPS technology) states that their newest receiver is accurate up to an average of 15 meters.